Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) amending Regulation No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff
Date: 1992-04-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: common customs tariff, foreign trade, statistics, tariff nomenclature

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

COM(92) 122 final 

Brussels*  1 Apr!I 1992 

Proposal  for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION  (EEC) 

amending Regulation No 2658/87 on the tariff 

and  statistical  nomenclature and on the Common  Customs  Tariff 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

4 

Council Regulation  (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 
has  established,  with  effect  from  January 1988, a 
goods nomenclature called the Combined  Nomenclature 
(CN)  to  meet  the  requirements  both  of  the  Common 
Customs Tariff and of the external trade statistics 
of the Community. 

On  the  basis  of  the  Combined  Nomenclature,  the 
Commission  has  established  an  integrated  tariff  of 
the  European  Communities  known  as  "Taric".  The 
Taric  not  only  forms  the  basis  for  the  national 
user tariffs applied  in the Member  States, but also 
serves as the basis for the gathering of statistics 
in  respect  of  third  country  imports.  Under  the 
present  terms  of  Regulation  (EEC)  No 2658/87 
provision  is  made  for  national  subdivisions  to 
appear  at  the  ninth  digit  between  the  CN  codes 
(seventh  and  eighth  digits)  and  the  Taric 
subdivisions  (tenth and eleventh digits). 

This  means  that  the  natural  progression  of  the 
codes  required  for  Community  purposes  through  the 
Harmonized  System,  the  Combined  Nomenclature  and 
Taric,  is  interrupted  for  national  statistical 
reasons. This has led to difficulties, at Community 
level,  with  regard  to  the  automation  of  customs 
procedures  and  use  of  the  Single  Administrative 
Document  (SAD). 

3 

4. 

5. 

In  order  to  avoid  these  difficulties  and  ensure a 
more  coherent  hierarchical  structure  of  the  codes 
used,  it  is considered  that  arrangements  should  be 
made  for  any national  subdivisions  to appear  after 
the Taric  subdivisions. This  requires  an  amendment 
to Regulation  (EEC) No 2658/87. 

The draft Regulation  will  serve as an  accompanying 
measure of the  Internal Market,  but  it  is proposed 
that  its  application  should  be  deferred  until  1st 
January  1994  in  order  to  allow  Member  States  time 
to implement the new provisions. 

1 

Proposal  for  a Council  Regulation  (EEC) 

amending  Regulation No 2658/87 on  the  tariff 

and  statistical  nomenclature  and on  the Common  Customs Tariff 

THE COUNCIL  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Economic  Community 

and  In particular  Article  113 thereof, 

Having  regard  to  the proposal  from  the  Commission, 

Whereas  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  2658/87  of  23  July  1987(1),  as  last 

amended  by 

Regulation  (EEC) No 

, of 

(2),  establishes  a  goods 

nomenclature  called  the combined  nomenclature; 

Whereas  the  Commission  established  an  Integrated  tariff  of  the  European 

Communities,  hereinafter  referred  to  as  the  "Taric",  based  on  the  combined 

nomenclature; 

(1)  OJ  L 256, 7.9.1987,  p. 1. 

(2) 

Telephone: direct  line 235.42.57 exchange 235.11.11 - Telex COMEU B 21877 - Telegraphic  oddress COMEUR  Brussels - Telefax  235.65.01 

Rue de lo Loi 200 - B-1049 Brussels - Belgium 

-  2 -

y 

Whereas  in  Articles  3  and  5  of  the  abovement ioned  regulation  It  is 

specified  that  Member  States  may  Insert  national  statistical  subdivisions 

after  the  codes  used  for  combined  nomenclature  subheadings  but  before  the 

codes  used  to  identify  the  Tarlc  subdivisions  applied  at  the  Community 

level; 

Whereas  the  differences,  caused  by  these  arrangements,  between  the  external 

trade  nomenclatures  and  the  goods  codes  of  Member 

States  creates 

difficulties  with  regard  to  the  automation,  at  Community  level,  of  customs 

procedures  and  the  use  of  the  single  administrative  document.  As  a  result, 

authorisation  to  include  national  statistical  subdivisions  after  the 

combined  nomenclature  should  be  withdrawn. 

Whereas,  as  Community  law  stands  at  present,  the  possibility,  provided  for 

by  Article  5  (3)  of  the  above  mentioned  regulation,  to  Insert  national 

subdivisions  after  the  Taric  subdivisions  must,  however,  be  maintained; 

Member  States  who  so  wish,  may  also  use  these  subdivisions  to  code  national 

external  trade  statistics  requirements. 

Whereas  in  order  to  obviate  these  difficulties  and  to  ensure  a  more 

coherent  hierarchical  structure  of  trie  codes  used  In  this  field  It  is 

appropriate  to  ensure  that  any  national  subdivisions  be  Introduced  after 

;  the  Tarlc  subdivisions; 

Whereas,  account  should  also  be  taken  of  the  expiry  of  the  provisions  laid 

down  in Article  5  (4) of  the  abovementIoned  regulation; 

HAS  ADOPTED  THIS  REGULATION  : 

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Q 

A r t i c le  1 

Regulation  (EEC) No 2658/87  Is hereby amended  as follows : 

a) 

Article  3  (2), (3) and  (4) shall  be replaced  by  the  following: 

"2. The  Tarlc  subheadings  shall  be  Identified  by  the  9th  and  10th 

digits  which,  together  with  the  code  numbers  referred  to  in 

paragraph  1,  form  the  Tarlc  code  numbers.  In  the  absence  of  a 

Community  subdivison,  the 9th and  10th digits shall  be "00". 

3. Exceptionally, an additional  Tarlc code of  four  characters may  be 

used  for  the application of specific Community  measures  which  are 

not  coded,  or  not  entirely  coded,  at  the  9th  and  10th  digit 

level". 

i 

J-

b) 

Article  5  (3) and  (4) shall  be replaced  by  the  following  : 

"3. Member  States may  Insert  subdivisions  for national  purposes  after 

the  Tarlc  subheadings.  Identifying  codes  shall  be  assigned  to 

such  subdivisions  in  accordance  with  Regulation  (EEC)  No 

2793/86." 

Article 2 

7 

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  third  day  following  its 

publication  In  the  Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities. 

It  shall  be  applied  with  effect  from  1  January  1994. 

This  Regulation  shall  be  binding  in  Its entirety  and  directly  applicable  In 

a I I Member  States. 

Done  at  Brussels, 

For  the  Council 

The  President 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(92) 122 final 

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